Notes from Founders: Andrew Kitchell

I’m excited to launch my new series Notes from Founders, where I talk to founders about brand. I got to catch up with Andrew Kitchell, co-founder of Lyric and Wheelhouse, among other start-ups.

What was your perception of “brand” when you were starting to launch your first company?

Thankfully, I have an aunt who was a brand leader at Starbucks for many years, and she gave me some super impactful books about branding in college, like “Purple Cow” by Seth Godin. My big takeaway from devouring books like that and like Paul Arden’s“Whatever You Think, Think the Opposite” was: STAND OUT! It’s a principle I took with me into my first company that I launched about 15 years ago or so. It’s a lot easier to say than do. It’s not always intuitive how to stand out in a category, and it’s a constant work of strategically evolving your brand so that you continue to stand out and still resonate with your target audiences.

How has that evolved as you’ve launched and grown more companies?

I’ve really come to believe that brands are the most valuable asset for a business. A well-crafted brand should be the simplest synthesis possible of what a company stands for because ultimately you need all decisions flowing from the brand. For example, for an iconic brand like Apple, their product roadmap, pricing strategy, hiring & firing, even their office design, all derive from their brand. In this sense, their brand has become a cohesive north star that pulls everyone forward - both teammates and consumers - and this anchoring is so strong that the company continues to flourish well after its iconic founder has departed. The brand makes decisions obvious, intuitive and simple - enabling businesses to nimbly evolve and create value without too much management. Perhaps it could be said… a well-managed brand makes it easier to manage.

What would your advice be to first-time founders around brand?

First, I would say that all companies (and individuals!) have a “brand”, whether you like it or not. Therefore, you might as well get great at building them! When I struggle with thinking through any aspect of branding, it’s almost always because I’m not yet able to articulate (or illustrate) the ideas in my head. Therefore, I’ve come to deeply appreciate the value of collaborating with experts in brand creation in order to create or unlock ideas that I can’t yet express. This leads to my easy first piece of advice - find experts who you love crafting brands with and hold them close!

Second, the brand you create will ideally feel easy or effortless for you to embody. In some ways thinking about your brand is just spending time reflecting on“Why do you want to bring this idea to the world?!” Again, most brands need an exceptional team to bring them to life, so just because you don’t yet have a tagline that moves people doesn’t mean there isn’t something there.

Oh, and make sure your brand feels fun/fresh to you. Since you are going to live your brand every day, your brand should make YOU happy.